All in all you’re just another nail in the coffin

The obituary writers will be out in force tomorrow, as Tom Parlon’s decision to leave the PDs sinks in. The former Minister of State will take up a post with the Construction Industry Federation- more on the ethics of this move anon. Mr. Parlon seems intent on sampling all the delightful interest groups that hold sway in Irish politics; having been head of the Irish Farmers’ Association, he now moves on to the construction industry. All that remains now is for him to open a pub. Of more immediate concern, however, is what this development means for the Progressive Democrats.

Seldom has any party been at such a low political ebb. Following the May general election, only 2 TDs remain to them. One of the their trustees, Paul Mackay, has already resigned. The leadership of the third party of government is seen as such a glittering prize that none of Liz O’Donnell, Mary Harney, Noel Grealish or Parlon want it at all. The successor to heavyweights like Des O’Malley, Mary Harney and Michael McDowell was always going to face an uphill battle. Parlon was, however, more suited to it than most. A grassroots politician in the finest Fianna Fail traditions, he is credited with greatly swelling the PD membership in his erstwhile constituency of Laois/Offaly. There was no-one more suited to rebuilding the PDs from the bottom up.

The remaining contenders are an uninspiring bunch. Senator Tom Morrissey, a Fine Gael defector, has unsuccessfully contested four general elections and one by-election. In 2007, he secured a risible 2.55% percent of the vote in Dublin North, rather less than Socialist Party comrade Clare Daly. Colm O’Gorman did a great job as director of One in Four, picking up a clutch of awards in recognition of this, but quite how this makes him the best man to press the case for open markets and liberal social policy is hard to say. A high profile is no substitute for the intellectual substance that Harney and McDowell, like them or loath them, had in spades. He too failed to impress the electors at his first outing in Wexford. Fiona O’Malley also indicated her intention to run last month. Observers of RTE’s election coverage will recall that she was remarkably chirpy for a woman who had just been given her marching orders by the notoriously fickle electorate of Dun Laoghaire. Such optimism will stand her in good stead if she gets the nod; but Dessie’s daughter is best known for her attachment to condoms and wind power. An engaging personality, it’s nonetheless hard to see her having the mass appeal and stamina to drag her party back from the dead.

For what it’s worth, there’s still a place for the PDs on the political landscape in terms of policy. In some ways they were the victims of their own success; their economic philosophy is now the orthodoxy within Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. But there is nevertheless ample scope for staking out their own territory in this regard, as both the “big tent” parties are compelled from time to time to leaven their capitalist recipe with some social justice for mass consumption. The nature of an open economy like ours is such that a slowdown is inevitable in the lifetime of the government; the PDs’ past credibility on economic matters could stand them in good stead in future. Likewise, as the country becomes less religious and less conservative, the liberal social policies professed by Harney & Co. could win new converts, if only they were given greater weight.

However, all this will count for naught without a good leader to head it up. In Irish politics, a party can do without substance if it has sufficiant style, but substance without style is a recipe for disaster. Whoever takes the helm at South Frederick Street will need the skills of Bertie himself to make the PDs a viable electoral prospect again- but none of those in line to do so appear to have what it takes.